Wednesday September 28, 2011 Volume 137, Issue 17
Spartans dominate tourney
SPARTAN DAILY
Sports p. 3
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A friend or foe to music? A&E p. 6
Bike heists on the increase for riders on campus Rising number of arrests demonstrates extra police attention; students focus on bicycle security by Jeffrey Cianci Staff Writer
Undeclared freshman Alex Ortega locks his bike up in the San Carlos Plaza bike enclosure. The enclosures, which are located in five different spots on campus, are one way to guard against bicycle theft on campus. Photo by Nick Rivelli / Spartan Daily
“
It has always been a constant challenge for us to deter bicycle theft and arrest bicycle thieves. - Sgt. Manuel Aguayo, UPD
” Student Health Center hosts
workshop on sexual violence by Chris Marian Staff Writer
On Friday, Sept. 23, three young women hosted a gathering at the Student Health Center to have an honest discussion about sex and sexual violence. “We want consent to be the first thing you do with your mouth,” said peer health educator Penny Speight, garnering laughs from her fellow speakers, DaShanna Jones and Monique McClanahan. Humor aside, teaching students the concept of sexual consent is something the three women said they take dead seriously. Speight, Jones and McClanahan all work for Wellness and Health Promotion Department, a subdivision of the Student Health Center, which has been hosting a series of events called the Peer Health Education Workshops on other health related topics for some time. “This presentation is actually something new,” Jones said. “We thought it was important to have this (workshop) on consent.” Before an audience of about twenty people, Speight, Jones and McClanahan explained sexual consent and its importance in having a healthy
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Spartan Daily Serving San José State University since 1934 Volume 137 / Issue 17
relationship. The audience included both men and women, mostly young students, and a handful of older people as well. “We like to say consent isn’t a contract,” Jones said, explaining how consent could be far more subtle and nuanced than a simple statement, and how one must be sensitive to the implicit as well as the explicit messages in an intimate relationship. The three young women covered topics connected to the act of consent as well, particularly the essential differences between a healthy and abusive intimate relationship. Intimate Partner Violence, as they called it, figured prominently in the discussion. Speight, Jones, and McClanahan described Intimate Partner Violence as an invisible epidemic that enters the public consciousness only when the acts of violence spill onto the street. They cited this summer’s murdersuicide in the 10th Street garage as a very public example of Intimate Partner Violence. Speight, Jones, and McClanahan explained that most sexual violence occurs within existing abusive relationships. They describe how popular media trends and antique chauvinistic cultural mores contribute to create an environment in which women are treated as property to be possessed and controlled – often with acts of sexual violence. Emotional violence can also be an important feature of an abusive relationship, Speight said. Several audience members shared anecdotes and personal observations of episodes of Intimate Partner Violence. Jones said the people who attend these workshops often have personal accounts of abuse, saying that coming to these workshops often brings these memories back.
SEE CONSENT PAGE 2
Robert Castaneda was leaving the gym on campus when he returned to find that a thief had stolen the back wheel from his bike. Several weeks earlier, a friend of Castaneda’s had their bike stolen from the same location. Castaneda, a sophomore environmental studies major, believes it was the lack of lights and cameras that allowed the wheel on his bike to be stolen. “It is ridiculous,” Castaneda said of bike rack safety. “It was dark and someone obviously had time — they wouldn’t have that time with lights on.” Bicycle theft is on the rise at SJSU, but there are ways to prevent it, said Sgt. Manuel Aguayo of the University Police Department. He explained the spontaneity of bicycle theft adds to the difficulty of prevention — even when it happens in front of students.
“We have had bicycles stolen in broad daylight with people walking in front of the bicycle racks while the thieves were doing their work,” Aguayo said, adding it can take as little as 15 seconds to swipe a bike. According to Aguayo, there have been 82 reported bicycle thefts so far this year, and there were 109 bicycle thefts in 2010. “Bicycle theft has always been an issue (on campus) — it has always been a constant challenge for us to deter bicycle theft and arrest bicycle thieves,” said Aguayo, adding that the campus police has made 15 arrests this year compared to 11 in 2010. He said most arrests occur around the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, as that is the one area with security cameras that can monitor the bike racks. Otto Melara, of Associated Students Transportation Solutions, said they have no way of warding off thefts in the cages other than to advise students on how to be safer. Associated Students has six cages around campus for SJSU students to protect and lock their bikes, he said — for a $50 deposit, students get a key and access to
SEE THEFT PAGE 2
Building fire releases low levels of chemicals Overheating wire blamed for melting plastic cover and setting room aflame by Jeremy Infusino Staff Writer
A recent report shows that air quality in Dwight Bentel Hall is safe for students, faculty and staff after a fire occurred in the building before the semester began. The fire occurred on Aug. 16 in Dwight Bentel Hall room 130, ten days before the fall semester started. Bob Rucker, interim director of the school of journalism and mass communication, said he was contacted that evening and came to campus immediately after hearing there was fire and smoke coming out of the windows in Dwight Bentel Hall. The fire was attributed to a wire overheating and melting its plastic wire coating, causing one of the many racks in the room to catch fire, he said. “When fire reaches a temperature that melts plastic, it was explained to me by the fire marshal who was here,
there are toxins that are released in the smoke,” Rucker said. “You smell smoke but you also have toxin residue that burns with that plastic and it was pretty strong.” After the fire was put out, he said SJSU officials brought in fans to air out the building and continued to do so for the next week. David Krack, director of environmental health and safety, is the person monitoring the air quality in Dwight Bentel Hall. He said an outside lab came into the building and cleaned from the night of the fire until Aug. 22. There is no universal measurement for what is considered clean or safe air, Krack said, and the lab tested the air quality inside room 130, the corridor of Dwight Bentel Hall and outside the building on the south side to compare. According to the report that was analyzed on Sept. 17, the amount of particles were enough to be detected but not high enough to be reported as a legitimate health concern. “Everything is a poison,” Krack said. “The only difference between a remedy and a poison is the dose.” According to Krack, the air ducts
and the walls primarily on the first floor of Dwight Bentel Hall will be wiped down and cleaned by Belfor Restoration, a company that analyzes and restores fire, water and storm damage. Junior journalism major Megan Rodriguez said she was not even aware there was a fire in the building. “If there’s any potential harm, it’s not OK,” she said. Rodriguez said she was living in Southern California at the time, and didn’t receive any notice about it. Jenae Jordan, a senior public relations major, said she read about the fire in an email. “I didn’t really think much of it,” she said. “It was really vague, that’s what I thought.” While sample tests have occurred since the fire and students and faculty have been occupying Dwight Bentel Hall, Krack said people would not be there unless the space is safe to occupy. He said they are considering doing more tests after the walls and ventilation system are cleaned but may not be necessary to retest considering the results from the last sample taken.